Teaching Virology

The Virology Chair of “Carol Davila” University of Medicine
and Pharmacy, Bucharest was founded by Pasteur Institute
Professor Stefan S. Nicolau in 1940, being the first ever
existing chair dedicated to the study of inframicrobes.

After the death of Stefan S. Nicolau in 1967, Academician Nicolae Cajal, followed by Professor Costin Cernescu headed the chair. Nowadays the chairprovides lectures and practical training of clinical virology for second year medical students (800 students/year) and residents in infectious diseases and microbiology (30 residents/year). The chair is hosted in the “St. S. Nicolau” Institute of Virology of the Romanian Academy (IVN), where an amphitheater for 150 persons with modern audio visual equipment, a demonstration room for 30 persons, and laboratories spaces (800 sqm) are used for research and demonstration activities..

The Virology chair in collaboration with the research staff of IVN is systematically organizing summer schools and CME courses dedicated to recent advances in virology, (e.g. viral vectors as oncolytic agents, viral agents as bioterrorist weapons, antiviral drugs, and the molecular basis of antiviral drugs resistance). The team of the virology chair is conducting research directed to the molecular epidemiology of the HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis and arboviral infections in the department of emerging infection of the St.S. Nicolau Institute of Virology.

The chair of Virology participates in a consortium of eight interdisciplinary departments of “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy that founded in 2006 “George Emil Palade” research and formative Platform, focused on translational medicine including: genetic and molecular testing of gastrointestinal cancers and premalignant lesions; diagnosis and therapy of malignant and premalignant gastrointestinal lesions using new mini-invasive techniques; cell therapy in liver disease and diabetes.. The Platform`s Director is Acad. Laurentiu Mircea Popescu, Head of the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine from “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy. In the 2006 CNCSIS national grants competition the platform has been awarded 1,4 millions Euro to invest in high performance equipments acquisition in order to support further research projects. The current infrastructure of the Virology chair will be will be upgraded by the creation of a BSL III laboratory for the development, purification, characterization and manipulation of viral vectors to be used as transporters for gene transfer. Such a facility will allow the young researchers to approach experiments involving handling of genetic modified organisms and highly virulent pathogenic agents which cannot be done without the appropriated security conditions, thus creating opportunities for the Romanian researchers to join European gene therapy teams of researchers.